The role of phosphodiesterase in aggregation of Dictyostelium discoideum.

The role of cAMP phosphodiesterase in the cAMP-mediated aggregation of the cellular slime mould Dictyostelium discoideum was investigated with a morphogenetic mutant defective in phosphodiesterase production. Mutant cells become capable of aggregating normally when incubated in the presence of exogenous phosphodiesterase isolated from Idictyostelium or rat brain. Direct contact between enzyme and the cell membrane is not required for this phenotypic suppression. The aggregateless character of this strain presumably results from an over-accumulation of cAMP in the extracellular medium since aggregation can be induced in the absence of added phosphodiesterase under conditions facilitating diffusion of the nucleotide. This suggests that phosphodiesterase is not involved in the generation or recognition of cAMP signals, but that the enzyme is essential in the control of the cAMP signal-to-noise ratio.